Mass vs Weight - Difference and Comparison

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	Mass	Weight
Type of Quantity:	It is a scalar quantity	It is a vector quantity.
About:	Mass is the amount of matter present in a body and is an intrinsic property of the body. Mass of an object remains the same always at any place.	Weight is a measure of how strongly gravity pulls on that matter.
Measurement Unit:	The SI unit of Mass is Kilogram	The SI unit of Weight is Newton
Balance used for measurement:	Mass is measured using a pan balance.	Weight is measured using a spring balance.
Effect of gravity:	Mass is always a constant at any place and any time	The weight of an object depends on the gravity at that place

Mass and Weight are terms associated with Physics and are measures of an object. But they're both different in terms of their measurement and factors that they depend on.

1 Definition of mass and weight
2 Measurement of mass vs. weight
3 Effect of gravity of mass and weight
4 External Factors affecting weight
5 Conversion from mass to weight
6 Relative weight on Earth, moon and other planets
7 Use of weight vs. mass
8 Related Articles
9 References

[edit] Definition of mass and weight

Mass is the amount of matter present in a body and is an intrinsic property of the body. Mass of an object remains the same always at any place.

Weight is a measure of how strongly gravity pulls on that matter. Weight is a force, and force is (Mass * Acceleration). The weight of an object is its mass time the acceleration due to gravity.

[edit] Measurement of mass vs. weight

Weight is measured using a scale which effectively measures the pull on the mass exerted by the gravity of the earth. Mass of a body is measured by balancing it equally with another known amount of mass. Mass is measured using a pan balance while Weight is measured using a spring balance.

[edit] Effect of gravity of mass and weight

The weight of an object depends on the gravity at that place while Mass is always a constant at any place and any time. Eg., If an object's mass is 60 kgs, then its Weight would be 600 Newtons but when taken to the Moon, this object will have a weight of 100 newton as the gravity of the moon is 1/6th that of the Earth. But the mass of that object will remain the same.

Mass can be a constant while Weight varies.

[edit] External Factors affecting weight

Mass is an intrinsic measure of an object and hence is independent of any external factors. Weight, on the other hand, depends on the mass that is attracting it and the force with which it is being attracted.

[edit] Conversion from mass to weight

To convert between weight (force) and mass, Newton's second law is used.

The formula for it is F = ma (force = mass × acceleration).

Here, F is the force due to gravity (i.e. the weight), m is the mass of the object in question, and a is the acceleration due to gravity, on Earth approximately 9.8 m/s² or 32.2 ft/s²).

In this context the same equation is often written as W = mg, with W standing for weight, and g for the acceleration due to gravity.

[edit] Relative weight on Earth, moon and other planets

The following is a list of the weights of a mass on the surface of some of the bodies in the solar system, relative to its weight on Earth:

Weight on Mercury: 0.378
Weight on Venus: 0.907
Weight on Earth: 1
Weight on Moon: 0.165
Weight on Mars: 0.377
Weight on Jupiter: 2.364
Weight on Saturn: 0.910
Weight on Uranus: 0.889
Weight on Neptune: 1.125

[edit] Use of weight vs. mass

In the physical sciences, the terms “mass” and “weight” are rigidly defined as separate measures in order to enforce clarity and precision. In everyday use, given that all masses on Earth have weight and this relationship is usually highly proportional, weight often serves to describe both properties, its meaning being dependent upon context. For example, in commerce, the net weight of retail products actually refers to mass and is properly expressed in pounds (U.S.) or kilograms. Conversely, the load index rating on automobile tires, which specifies the maximum structural load for a tire in kilograms, refers to weight; that is, the force due to gravity.